Chapter 9: In Silence

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things. (Kurt Vonnegut).


Tony Stark never had been a morning person. Or, to be more accurate, no matter what time of the day he awoke, it took him some time to get his brain to working.

This did not mean that he was not able to dress himself, or brush his teeth, make his unruly hair a little less unruly, i.e. styled in a way none of New York's best hair stylists were able to, because, after all, he was Tony Stark. It just meant that his brain was not fully booted yet, and holding a conversation with him was very likely impossible, because it would be very one-sided.

This was one of the very few mornings he was up and out of their bedroom before Pepper, mostly, though, because she needed a bit more time in the bathroom to make herself presentable, as she had said. Not that he cared, he knew how the woman looked without makeup and in her shabbiest yoga-pants and his Iron Maiden shirt, and still thought she was the most beautiful woman on Earth.

He did not care, especially not at 7 a.m. in the morning after a day spent in hell (well, except for the movie session, that had been fun), when all his brain managed to formulate was Need coffee. So he was ambling down into the kitchen, trying to tie his tie and giving up eventually as his hands would not cooperate to sling it correctly. This had to wait until after coffee, at least J.A.R.V.I.S. was a dear, he could hear the machine gurgling already.

"J… music… loud…", was his monosyllabic order to his AI, shuffling closer to the coffee maker while trying to find a cup.

"Sir, Mr. Laufe…"

"Ozzy, J. Loud." Having found his cup, Tony turned around to lean against the counter, facing the living room while staring into nowhere through half-closed eyes.

J.A.R.V.I.S. dutifully followed his order this time, watching how the Demigod who had fallen asleep on the couch while hugging the tablet to his chest only one hour ago jolted up in a sitting position after the first riffs of Black Sabbath's Paranoid that were blaring through the entire Penthouse.

"Guð minn góður!" Wide green eyes took in his surroundings, his good hand clutching the soft blanket while the arm constraint in the sling was keeping the tablet close.

Right. Stark's Penthouse. He must have fallen asleep on… Oh, more instruments seemed to join this infernal noise, hammering in his ears, and then… he heard a voice he could only describe as haunting. This was what mortals enjoyed as music? He did not bother listening what this haunted creature was singing, but turned his gaze towards the source of this abomination to his ears.

Stark was just standing in the kitchen, staring into emptiness, his head slightly moving with the rhythm of the music...

"J.A.R.V.I.S., tune it down at least 20%!" a female voice from the bedroom saved his eardrums, making him look up to the end of the stairs as Lady Pepper started descending them, this time already wearing high heels, and fiddling with something at hear ears.

The, for the lack of a better word, music, indeed was turned to a not-so-ear-straining level, making Loki sigh with relief.

"Sweets, I know you worship Ozzy, but he's not everybody's cup of tea at 7 a.m., at least not at your usual volume", she said, sharp heels clicking on the marble floor as she marched into the kitchen, finishing what she was doing with her ear and shaking her hair back in place.

Stark just hummed an inarticulate "Hmm", moving the cup in his hands towards his lips, only realizing that it was still empty when he had already tried drinking from it. With a sigh, he turned around to the coffee maker again, taking the pot out while it was still running, and helped himself to his first full cup, downing half of the still scalding liquid with one big gulp that would have had every other person scream in pain at the temperature.

"Tell me again, why did we have to get up this early?" he asked then, directing his glance at the grinning woman right next to him, before snapping back to the baffled Demigod in his living room to frown at him.

"Hey, Lokes, don't you like your mattress, or what?"

Pepper's gaze followed the billionaire's, a soft smile appearing on her face as the God smoothened down his hair, still clutching the tablet. Motioning for J.A.R.V.I.S. to tune the music down even a bit more, she took in how one side of Loki's face still showed creases from the pillow.

"I… guess I fell asleep while reading the tales of your Mr. Kipling. I agree with you about feeling sorry for the tiger. Uhm… J.A.R.V.I.S. found the… e-book is the term, I believe, for me", the Demigod offered just as Ozzy was begging Can you help me occupy my brain?!

"Don't worry, oh God of Mischief, we won't tell anyone", she said with a smirk. "Do you want breakfast? Tony and me have to hit the road soon to go to the City Clerk Office and get our marriage license, and don't ask me why they are still up and running while the rest of the town is still in pieces. And then there's this tiny, completely unimportant thing called board meeting that I have to attend and you promised to show up at least so that they can also see that you're still kicking", she said, turning towards the inventor.

Tony just took another sip from his cup. "Oh… right, that's why I told J.A.R.V.I.S. to wake us at fuck-no! o'clock in the morning. I hope you meant Loki with the breakfast thing, though."

Pepper casually pushed his hand out of the way as he was done drinking and started working on his tie.

"Come on, I drag your sorry ass out of bed for more than 10 years now, I know that you don't do breakfast. I, however, need to eat something, otherwise I might go hypoglycemic during that meeting and kill one of these old men by chance."

Finishing the Windsor knot in record time, Pepper stole a quick kiss that tasted oh so alluringly like coffee, so she reached around him, trying to grab another cup and was caught in his embrace as he grinned at her.

"Oh, Miss Potts…"

"Oh, no, you will not lament your way out of the board meeting", she smiled as he tilted his head slightly up to peck her on the lips. Sometimes, he did not relish being smaller than her when she was wearing her high heels.

"I would be charming my way out of it, and I'm not because I already told you I would come. I have to go to R&D anyways, I had a few more ideas last night, it'll give them something to chew on for the next few weeks, even if it's a rather outdated design by now. What do you think about Hover cars?", the engineer replied after stealing another kiss and then letting Pepper out of his arms to get her well-deserved morning coffee.

Loki had stood up from the couch by now, carefully placing the once more black tablet onto the coffee table. Maybe J.A.R.V.I.S. could find him some more of these e-books to read later.

The smell of the beverage both Stark and Lady Pepper were nursing was alluring, and curiously enough, it made his stomach growl, so yes, breakfast would actually be nice. When he started on making his way over to the kitchen, he realized that he was barefoot, had been so already in the middle of the night, when his… when Frigga and Thor had arrived and assumed they could just drag him back to Asgard, now that Odin was asleep.

The floor was cold. He would have to look for some shoes if he would be staying here for longer… depending on how long Stark was allowing him to stay.

When he had reached the kitchen, Tony motioned for him to sit down and took Pepper's cup with the steaming beverage out of her hands before she could even smell it. That got him some pouty lips from his significant other who now started rummaging for another cup. At least they had enough coffee – if Tony could spare one of his three cups in the morning.

"Take it easy first, not everybody likes coffee, it's pretty bitter if you're having it black. You can add sugar and cream like Peps, or we also have tea here", the engineer explained while Pepper was adding exactly these ingredients to her coffee and then started raiding the fridge and some cupboards to prepare herself some granola.

She turned around with the first spoonful in her mouth just in time to see the Trickster pull a face after his first sip, and she couldn't help but smile.

"I guess Loki has a sweet tooth just like me, huh?" Shoving her yet untouched coffee into his direction she just smiled at him. "Here, try this. What do you want for breakfast?"

Coffee was indeed bearable the way Lady Pepper was drinking it. Tony was already pouring his second cup while running a hand over his face, trying to wake up a bit faster than normally.

"I… don't know. Maybe also some of the cereals you are eating… like yesterday."

Pepper threw him a confused look. Oh, yes, the day before she had asked him to join them for breakfast and then had just put a bowl and some milk in front of him because they were in a hurry. Obviously, he had liked it.

The woman just shrugged, turning around to get another bowl and prepare breakfast for the Demigod.

"We also still have pop tarts, J.A.R.V.I.S. really ordered a year's supply for Thor", the engineer smirked.

"Considering the amount Mr. Odinson had for yesterday's breakfast and during his flying visit in the middle of the night, the amount I ordered will last for another week, Sir", J.A.R.V.I.S. piped up.

"They taste… artificial. I will rather have the cereals", Loki said as he accepted the bowl and a spoon, waiting for Pepper and/or Tony to sit down next to him.

To his surprise, she put her bowl down next to the Demigod and grabbed the cup with coffee that he had sipped on and rejected before, added some sugar and some cream, and let out a contented sigh as she took her first gulp. Only then she did move around the counter, gracefully hopping up on the barstool there and started eating.

Tony kept watching them, both of them unconsciously tugging their hair back behind their ears every once in a while, spooning their granola into their mouths, Loki a bit stiffly, as normally he appeared to be favoring his right hand.

J.A.R.V.I.S. had turned to something less angry in Tony's playlists by now, creating a nice, easy on the ears background music. It was oddly comforting, watching those two people in front of him, sitting side by side, and peacefully eating.

If anyone would tell him that this man was the guy who had tried taking over the planet only a few days ago, Tony would have called that person an idiot. While Tony's clothes definitely would not only have been too short, but also too tight for the Demigod, he was nowhere near as bulky as Thor was, and as it had appeared under the layers of metal and leather of his armor.

His sheer length made the God appear thin and skinny, and now, that this haunted, driven look had somewhat disappeared from his features, he just looked incredibly young with his hair slightly tousled from sleep. A boy who had merely come of age, who had to find out that he had been lied to his entire life, who had been tortured by the people who claimed to love him.

It was somewhat ridiculous, thinking like that about the Trickster, an alien being who claimed to be older than a millennium – that was hardly a boy trying to cope with his life. Still, it seemed like he was desperately hoping, still hoping, after all this time, that somebody might finally tell him why and help him.

Taking another sip from his cup, Tony took a deep breath. How come his thoughts did stray from warm and fuzzy to this?

Feeling watched, Loki lifted his eyes, tilting his head questioningly as the billionaire just kept watching him.

"Do not look at me like that. There is no need for you to pity me. I may have been the victim in this story, but there are other things that I did, and some of them are just as contemptible. Do your myths say anything about a God named Baldr?"

Tony straightened his posture slightly as he kept leaning on the kitchen counter, taking another sip of coffee before answering.

"Yeah. I guess the thing with the mistletoe was before your family was murdered. You denying to cry for him and grant him resurrection was afterwards, not caring if Ragnarök did finally come. Am I right, or am I right?" The engineer tilted his head at the Demigod now, ignoring Pepper's sharp look that told him to shut the fuck up!

Interestingly, Loki's expression changed, turned questioning and… hurt? Desperate? Lost? "Is there anything that is not written in your Norse mythology? All my failures? Everything I ever did?"

"I don't know. You'd have to read them, and to be honest, some parts made my stomach churn, so I'd rather have you stick to Kipling and J.R.R. Tolkien if you have to. Just stay away from that chick who decided that Vampires are now sparkling in sunlight instead of burning, those books will not be read under my roof."

Pepper sighed heavily next to Loki. "Why, for heaven's sake, should Loki want to read the Twilight saga? I mean, just in case that he does, J.A.R.V.I.S., recommend Anne Rice instead, but still…? And you hate Tolkien."

Tony just threw her a look.

"You watched the first two movies. You made me watch them with you."

"Because I wanted to see what the hype was about. That wannabe oh-so-hot Vampire looked like a plucked chicken, and they animated his abs, for heaven's sake! Not to forget that they should have shaved his chest, sent him to workout for half a year, and then they should have replaced him and that chick who can do exactly one facial expression, namely I am a zombie, by Brad Pitt! He would have rocked that movie, sparkling or not."

"He's a fucking Vampire! Those don't sparkle! They combust! Ask Buffy! She's not called the Vampire-Slayer for nothing!"

Loki's eyes just flew between the mortals during their word match that had turned from his shortcomings to this… weird nonsense in under ten seconds. Were they doing this on purpose?

"What, by the Norns, are you talking about?!" he spoke up, feeling two pairs of eyes locking on him again.

Pepper tugged at a strand of her hair then, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Uhm… that's some books, movies and TV series about living dead creatures that live of blood. The rules say they do not have a reflection in mirrors, cannot stand garlic and crucifixes, and they combust in sunlight. One author decided a few years ago that Vampires ought to be totally different, not going into the sun because they sparkle, they are ethereally beautiful and some of them…"

"…are utterly lame", Stark finished her sentence. He had not consciously changed the topic, most of the time things like these just happened, and with Pepper knowing him so well and being fully capable of arguing with him, he more often than not got carried away. Scratching the back of his head, he sent Pepper a look.

"How come we always stray off topic in under ten seconds?"

"I don't know, but I am convinced it's your fault", she answered with a smirk, having the Demigod next to her snort amusedly.

"Aw, you're just mean. C'mon, Lokes, buddy, help me here!"

Leaning back on the barstool, Loki grabbed his mug and took in the scent, smiling at the engineer.

"If there is one thing that I have learned in being happily married for almost two centuries, it is that the Lady is always right, Stark."

He realized one second later what he had just said, his mind starting to overanalyze once more his feelings towards everything and everyone involved in this tragedy that his life had become so long ago.

"Oh, bummer, are you now also ganging up on me with her? J.A.R.V.I.S. is already doing that enough."

Stark's insensitivity actually made him smile, even though he was not quite sure whether the other man was not doing at least this on purpose. Already two days ago when they had freed him of his improvised prison cell, it had been the other man who had steered the conversation back on topic when they strayed too much into uncomfortable areas.

And if he was interpreting the mortal correctly, it was to say Hey, it's okay that you were happily married and loved your wife and your life. What happened cannot be undone, but it's okay to feel good about what you had before.

"Well, Sir, most of the time it is indeed that Lady that is right", J.A.R.V.I.S. piped up, making the three of them laugh, with Tony sighing an "I'm so screwed" that was betrayed by his own laughter.

His eyes found Pepper's as they were laughing, and she tilted his head at him, his laughter ebbing down and being replaced by a soft smile.

"Well, I guess we won't make it for two centuries, but I can live with you being right for the next 30 years or so?" he said, having Pepper smile back.

"What, no aiming for the golden anniversary? Anthony Edward Stark, I thought you to be more competitive", Pepper laughed back, digging back into her breakfast.

Only Loki saw Stark's smile fade a little, before the mortal was taking a deep breath and putting on the smile again.

"Well, I'll do my very best, Miss Potts. Though, you know, in the end you might have to do all of the work, because I'll be a 90 year old fart, deaf, and blind, and ugly."

Pepper just looked at him and shrugged. "So what? You'll be my old fart. And up to now you've been taking good care of me", she said, oblivious to the tiny, worried side glance the Demigod sent her now.

Tony on the other hand saw it, just as he had seen the glances every time he or J.A.R.V.I.S. had gone overprotective in the past two days.

"Uh, there's actually something Pepper and I wanted to tell you, Loki. Because I guess you'll be here for some time, and things will just get weirder around here than they have to be."


He had found her sitting right next to the entrance door to their bedroom only seconds after he realized why Pepper wanted Thor and his mother so desperately out of their home. Loki appeared calm enough, after all he had been living with this for centuries, still, Tony also felt bad for leaving him alone down there after just re-living what must have been the worst day in in life.

Pepper was more important, though. He did not even remember closing the door behind himself as he dropped to his knees right next to her, gathering her in a tight embrace, having her sob against his chest.

"Oh Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. If I'd known this would happen…"

Pepper just coiled into his arms, holding on for her dear life.

"They… he… did you hear…?" she gasped, tears wetting his shirt as he shifted his position, sitting down next to the weeping woman in his bedroom.

"Yeah. Hearing the story's definitely worse than reading what happened."

Lifting her head, she looked at the engineer with red-rimmed eyes. "How's Loki? They didn't take him with them, right? We're not going to let him alone with them! They're gone, I hope!"

Taking her head into his hands he wiped away some of the tears streaming down her face. "Yes, they are gone, and yes, he's still here. We talked a bit about his wife and prophecies before I realized why you kicked the God of Thunder and his Mom out of the Penthouse. If I'd known this would happen, I would have told them to leave."

"We would have found out, eventually. At least I hope we would have. I'm glad it happened", she sniffled then, making the engineer frown.

"Loki finally took a chance to tell his brother off. Have you seen Thor's face? He was shocked, and surprised, because obviously Loki always kept things like these to himself. It must be cathartic for him to tell them just how much they hurt him, how much of all of this bullshit is actually their fault, and not his…" She was hiccupping by now and wished she had something to blow her nose, so she slightly disentangled from Tony, running the back of her hand under it.

"Yeah. I'm not talking about that, though. I let two people who were actively participating in murdering children into my house and don't tell me you freaked because you felt so sorry for our Demigod. Don't tell me you weren't thinking about Cell-heap, because in the moment he's all I can think about."

Bringing one hand down from her cheek he caressed over her belly in a somewhat weird angle and took in her red-eyed, snotty-nosed features, actually smiling a little as he thought that she still was his red-eyed, snotty-nosed Goddess.

"Don't get me too riled up, Tony… I'll ask you to build an Iron baby crib and a squad of Iron Nannies that are heavily armed and could destroy a God to keep our Cell-heap save."

"What makes you think I don't have the blueprints already worked out in my mind, Sweetheart?" he asked, drawing her once again against his body. He could feel her shake, thinking that she was crying even heavier, but then he could hear her silent laughter.

"We really, really, really need to come up with another name than Cell-heap, otherwise it will stick. Our poor boy will be mocked for his parents calling him a Cell-heap."

"Well, we could go for Ju-Junior", Tony stammered, leaning back on his heels to look at his soon-to-be wife who was sending him a questioning look.

"Junior? As in…?" she asked, one of her hands letting go off him to once more wipe away the wetness on her cheeks. Tony looked at her self-consciously.

"When… my Mom couldn't have any more children after me because something went wrong. I came too early and they messed up the C-section. Howard didn't give me a name until she was able to… they had not even discussed before, I guess. She named me after Anton Vanko, of all people. Where the Edward's coming from I don't know."

A hand reached out, touching his cheek, a thumb was caressing over his goatee.

"Anthony Stark jr. huh?

Tilting his head, Tony shrugged. It had just been a thought, a silent idea that had entered his mind as soon as they had declared for the first time that Cell-heap was not the best name. Yes, he knew, he should not be naming anything, DUM-E and U were the best examples for that.

"You have veto-power, of course", he said, delighted as her features lightened under all these tears.

"Anthony Stark jr. I need to figure out a good middle name to join that", she smiled softly, waiting until also he started to smile.

When they finally managed to get up from the floor and into bed, her legs felt like ice-clumps and Tony actually shrieked a bit as she wound them around his, crawling close into his warmth.

"That's all your fault. Don't we have floor heating? Because that marble is nice, but fucking cold", she scolded him, making him snicker.

"You do know that you just called the Queen of Asgard Queen Mum, insulted Thor and his half-assed plan, called Asgard fairy-land, and said fuck three times in the same sentence out there, right?"

Wide pale-blue eyes looked at him as he got rid of his shirt and bathed the room in the light of the arc-reactor, drawing her closer. When her head finally rested against his shoulder, he let out a contented sigh.

"Oh my God, I did, didn't I?! I have to apol…"

"Nope, Sweetheart, you don't have to apologize. If the argument had continued for longer, I would have thrown them out, and believe me, I would have been just as diplomatic. And you should have seen Loki's face. I think it's been a really long time since anyone stood up for him against his family."

Snuggling closer and pulling the sheets up to cover them both, Pepper pressed her nose against his warm skin, inhaling deeply. He always faintly smelt of soap and coconut (and motor oil), and while she also liked his usual aftershave, this was the smell she would always connect with him, she would always recognize. In this game with Loki doubling for Tony she had only partly relied on what she would feel when she touched his chest, knowing that Loki did not know about the reactor. His smell, this tiny tinge of coconut…

"J.A.R.V.I.S., what is Loki doing in the moment? Is he alright?" she asked into the darkness, shifting with Tony as also he got comfortable.

"Mr. Laufeyson has taken residence on the couch where he found your Stark Pad, Sir, and has started reading The Jungle book as we speak. He furthermore has been asking for Miss Potts' condition as in the last two days both you and me have been fussing over her, Sir", the AI dutifully answered, having both humans in the bed sigh.

"And what did you tell him, J? Tony asked, suppressing a yawn. Finally, he was feeling ready to go to sleep.

"That Miss Pott's condition was nowhere near fatal and just required special care."

They were both quiet for a while, the engineer drifting into sleep, her voice sounding somewhat distant when she spoke again.

"Maybe we should tell him, Tony…"

He had to actually put some effort into opening his eyes again, blinking a few times before he could answer.

"Huh… what happened to the three months rule, Peps?"

"I just… think that he won't take it well if we keep behaving weird around him, and I guess he'll be staying for a while. His parents lied to him his entire life, his brother belittled and disappointed him for just as long. I don't… I don't want to lie to him or leave him in the dark, because he will grow suspicious immediately and assume things, and this will not end well", was her answer and he hummed softly. She had a point there.

"We also still have to tell DUM-E and U", Pepper smiled.

She just got another hum from Tony and was listening to his steady breathing as she also drifted off to sleep."


Tony tilted his head, looking at Pepper for some help, because, actually, she had suggested to clue Loki in on their little secret.

Okay, so he had been half asleep, but his mind did function better in that state than when being half awake, and yes, he actually agreed with her.

His gaze shifted to the Demigod who, unlike Pepper, had stopped eating and was watching him. Since he obviously was not getting any support from his significant other, even thought it had been her idea, Tony took a deep breath and threaded the fingers of his hand that was not clutching the coffee cup through his hair, creating yet another purely Tony style.

"Okay… so, uhm…actually it's a bit too early to tell anyone, and normally we wouldn't even have found out yet if J.A.R.V.I.S. and my tech were not so awesome..." His eyes were once more straying from the God of Mischief to Pepper, who now rolled her eyes.

"Very eloquent, Mr. Stark, but that's not exactly the point", she smiled around her spoonful of granola, having him purse his lips. So she really wanted him to struggle through this alone? Wrong person to deal with, baby.

"Okay, what else do you want me to say? Hey, Lokes, buddy, you know what? I knocked up my girlfriend during that one very fateful quickie in my Manhattan office ten days ago after barely having seen each other the six weeks before because of me getting that tower to work and her setting up that wind park in California and dealing with those nosy politicians in D.C. Oh, and now we're telling you, because J.A.R.V.I.S. and me are both getting overprotective and we don't want you to think we're plotting against you when actually we're feeding Peps her pre-natal vitamins and deal with food cravings."

Two sets of eyes were directed at him, opened wide as he rambled. Loki was still confusedly looking at him when Pepper was already hiding her face in her hands.

"I asked for that… I so had this coming", she muttered. "Very diplomatic, Tony."

"Since when am I known for being diplomatic? And the way he is looking at me he didn't really get what I wanted to tell him."

"Well, I don't think Shakespeare did use words like knocked up or quickie when he inspired the Asgardian way of talking."

"Then would you please enlighten me what you are actually trying to tell me that is so important?" Loki asked, interrupting before this conversation escalated once more into a word match that had absolutely nothing to do with the topic they had been discussing before.

This time, Tony sent Pepper a pointed look. She smiled when she was directing her gaze from her fiancée to the Demigod next to her.

"I am pregnant, Loki. 10 days along. Normally we would not have found out, yet, it's way too early, and normally, we wouldn't tell anyone until we reached the three months mark, because then it's less likely for me to… lose the baby. But you have noticed that both Tony and J.A.R.V.I.S. are protective, we didn't want you to think that something was wrong, and we didn't want to lie to you."

Before Loki could answer anything to this news, Tony was addressing him again.

"And we don't want you to think that we are helping you only because of this. Yes, it is one of the reasons. But after all we learned, we'd help you even if there was no Cell-heap."

Pepper snorted. "We agreed on Junior last night, Tony."

The engineer bit his lower lip. "Uhm… I feel like we should rehearse this once more before we tell DUM-E and U that they'll get a baby-brother. Could you please un-knit your eyebrows, Loki? This is good news. And you still have 9 months before you have to show me how to change a diaper."

This indeed made the steep furrow between those elegant black brows disappear, a confused expression appearing on the Demigod's face.

"Ni-Nine months?"

"Yeah… that's usually as long as it takes for human kids to be born. Normally we'd have found out in two or three weeks when Pepper would freak out about being late, but since J.A.R.V.I.S. is as awesome as I made him, we figured it out three days ago when…"

"…I tried to invade your planet…" Loki finished his sentence, placing his spoon next to his half-empty bowl.

Pepper nudged him, locking her eyes with him. "Thanos tried to invade our planet. You saved our asses, don't forget that all the time. You could actually show Tony how to change a diaper, right? I'm somehow afraid he'll build a machine for that purpose."

"Hey, you didn't have any problems with me wanting to build Iron Nannies, but you don't want me to leave the stinky parts to a machine? We could sell it, we'll be incredibly rich! Oh, boy, maybe I'll finally make baby bottles and… what else did I tell that reporter chick, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

"You told her that you'd make bricks and beams for baby hospitals, and we are already incredibly rich, Babe. And if you ever mention Christine Everheart again in my presence, you'll be sleeping on the couch, my Love", Pepper grouched into his direction. She hated that person with every fiber of her heart. Part of it may be because she was one of the many women she had thrown out of his bedroom… and actually she had been the last she had thrown out before…

"Oh, no no no no no, Peps, don't go there. I'm sorry I mentioned her…" Tony interrupted her thoughts that were turning to that very fateful morning before he had left for Afghanistan.

"Before you stray off topic once more, may I offer you my congratulations? And what makes you assume that I will still be around nine months from now?" Loki interrupted with a faint smile. He was indeed surprised that both mortals were considering his feelings enough to go against one rule that appeared to be quite common concerning procreation on Earth. And yes, he had been wondering what all the fuss about Lady Pepper was about. And of course, his weird mind had made it into something bad, into some illness, instead of something joyful that made both the Man of Iron and his Lady Pepper smile warmly at each other.

Tony just shrugged. "I'm not assuming anything. If you're still there, then you're still there. And if you're sleeping on the couch all the time, then Peps can't make me sleep there" he grinned, making the Norse God snort amusedly.

"The bed you offered me is also very comfortable. I just…"

"Hey, you don't have to explain why you rather sleep there. You don't wanna know how often I fell asleep in my workshop and Pep found me there."

"Yeah, I will never forget how I found you torso-deep in the Bentley, thinking the engine had crushed you, while DUM-E was happily chirping, holding that thing like three inches over your back. My heart almost stopped while you were snoring away."

"I don't snore."

"I had J.A.R.V.I.S. record it. You do. How can one snore while lying on his belly?"

"I do not snore. Snoring's not cool."

Green eyes followed them as in a tennis match, the faint smile growing a bit wider. "I do have a feeling that life around the two of you will not be dull."

"Yah, dull doesn't come in a package with Anthony Stark. The first time I was bored I invented a vacuum robot. Our butler almost had a heart attack back then, but once he got used to it, he liked S.N.I.F.F.Y.."

While Pepper echoed an amused "S.N.I.F.F.Y.?", Loki repeated the name Anthony.

"How many names do you mortals usually have?" he asked, getting a raised eyebrow in return from both the engineer and the redhead.

"How many…? Oh… ah… okay, my official, legal name is Anthony Edward Stark, Tony is an abbreviation. And the name of this angelic being right next to you is Virginia Potts. Pepper's a nickname I gave her when she knocked out my bodyguard with pepper spray to show me an accounting mistake I deliberately made to test my accountant's department. It somehow stuck."

Years ago Pepper might have blushed at the angelic being. Now she just rolled her eyes and muttered an apple-polisher behind another spoonful of granola.

"Hey, you're Royalty, right? Here on earth they have like eight first names like Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester. What abomination did your parents onto you and Thor?" Tony rambled on, feeling like he was finally awake.

There was it again, this steep furrow between these huge green eyes.

"I am just Loki", the Demigod said. He used to be an Odinson, Silvertongue, Skywalker, Liesmith and Laufeyson… but all of this either never really applied for him, or he did not feel like it anymore. Before any of the mortals could say anything to backpedal, he added: "And Thor is just Thor. We do not have this tradition with the multiple names, Anthony."

Emptying his cup with one last big gulp Tony managed to not evade the Demigod's glance. He had noticed the almost unnoticeable stuttering every time Loki was calling him Tony. If he was more comfortable with his full name, why not?

J.A.R.V.I.S.'s silent beeping tone announced his intention to speak up before he actually did.

"Sir, Mr. Hogan has arrived and is waiting in the garage. Clean up efforts have been finished concerning the Chitauri corpses and some of the roads are free again. Greenpeace has been approached for help with the Leviathans, they suggested opening the bodies to avoid the explosion of those corpses. I am currently re-routing the salvaged metal plating from Jonah's whale to one of Stark Industries' storage halls."

"Great, buddy. See if you can get your hands on some of the Chitauri before they cremate all of them. And see if you can also get the armor plating of the other whale thingies." Tony turned around for another quick cup of coffee, finding the pot empty.

"Jonah's whale? Do I want to know that story?" Pepper inquired, and also Loki threw him a curious look.

"Well… the lasers didn't cut through the plating, so… I kind of destroyed it from within? J.A.R.V.I.S. was not amused."

Crossing her arms, the redhead was still looking at him. "You flew into one of… you know what? I don't want to know it, I guess these animals are actually easier to destroy from within. Just don't fly any more nukes into outta space."

"I never wanted to fly nukes into outta space to begin with. I'm still pissed that the World Security Council wanted to nuke New York, not caring that they would have killed millions of people where the Chitauri managed to off only maybe a few hundred before we stopped them."

When Loki kept staring at the engineer, Tony sighed. "Yeah. We humans are pretty good in annihilating our own kind. Peps and I have to go now. If you need anything, just ask J.A.R.V.I.S.. You also can reach Pepper or me via him. You're free to do whatever you want, buddy, just don't stray into my workshop… I blow myself up in there enough, no need to put you in danger."

Loki just nodded slowly before picking up his spoon again. Maybe he would ask J.A.R.V.I.S. for some shoes afterwards.


This time it was a knock on the door that woke him. How come he was always sleeping lately? He found himself in his guestroom in the bed, hugging one of the pillows to his chest, covered by the soft blanket up to his ears.

He had come in here because he wanted to change into some regular clothes, not intending to spend the rest of the day in the silky pajamas. Sitting down on the bed obviously had been a mistake.

J.A.R.V.I.S. must have tinted the windows as it was dark, and briefly he was wondering if he had imagined the knock on the door, burying his nose against the pillow again.

It knocked again, hesitantly, and he could hear the engineer's voice saying his name. Why couldn't they let him sleep? He was so tired, barely keeping himself from sending the other man away.

It knocked a third time, and this time, the door was slowly opened, Tony sticking his head in through the crack.

"Hey, Lokes, I'm sorry to wake you, but there's some things that came up in the last few hours…"

Loki tiredly ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes while Tony let himself into the room, leaving the door open behind him, illuminating the man from behind. Lifting himself into a half-sitting position, the Demigod ran a hand over his hair, smoothing the slight bedhead.

"How… how long have I been sleeping?" He was used to how time was passing on Asgard – or in the Void. Nothing ever happened fast there. Nothing compared to the fast pace things were happening on Midgard. He was wondering what the matter was now.

"It's pretty late in the afternoon already. I've been back for two hours now. I figured you didn't get much rest while under Thanos' reign so I let you sleep." Tony sighed, sitting down on the edge of the large bed, also running a hand over his face.

"What ails you, Anthony? It appears that I am not the only one being exhausted."

Taking a deep breath, the mortal looked at him. "I am confronting some really powerful people while trying to help… and don't look at me like that, Loki, it's the right thing to do. However, you're not the only one they're after…"

Sighing once more, the engineer threw a quick glance at the open door, before turning back to Loki.

"I wanted to ask you if it was okay if we moved you upstairs into the room next to Pepper's and mine."

Loki didn't even need to open his mouth and ask why. His entire face was a question mark.

"I… well, I actually thought that the military was finally done with Bruce after what had happened four years ago in Harlem, but he'd only managed to stay off their radar just until now. I was wrong. They think they are subtle, but there's more and more of them arriving, gathering around the tower. J.A.R.V.I.S. spotted General Ross, and when I told Bruce it took some effort to…"

"Calm the monster down?" Loki asked, astonished when he got a sharp look as answer.

"Bruce is as much a monster as I am. And no, it took some effort to talk him out of leaving. I owe him my life, Loki, and I would be a hypocrite helping you while I'm not trying to help him." Standing up from the bed, Stark threw the Demigod another look.

"Bruce will move up into the Penthouse, and I thought that you'd like to not have the room right next to him."

When he turned to leave, Loki cleared his throat, making him stop without taking even the first step.

"I… I am sorry, Anthony. I did not intend to insult your friend."

"He is not a monster, okay? He's been through a lot, he's been on the run almost constantly for the last ten years, and believe me, Ross made it a man-hunt, intending to dissect him instead of doing tests, assuming him to be nothing more than a monster. I don't know him well enough to call him my friend, but if the Hulk had not decided that he liked the tin-man, I would be dead now, because the suit was offline and I was unconscious when falling from the portal. I'm bargaining for his freedom in the moment, and I guess it's gonna cost me, but…"

Lowering his eyes, Loki fisted his good hand. Oh, what a hypocrite he was himself, calling the other man a monster, while he himself was the biggest abomination in the tower. Yes, he was weary of the Hulk, because the creature had shown him that he was not invincible. He did not know the man behind the green guy, though.

"I am sorry", he whispered again, and it took some effort to look at Stark. "Don't put yourself out on my account. I can handle being in a room right next to… uhm… B-Bruce."

"If you feel more comfortable with it, call him Dr. Banner. And I would feel better if you moved upstairs, to be honest. I do like Bruce, and usually he's a calm guy, but I do not entirely trust in all those anger management methods he's indulging in. And actually, I'm gonna need all three rooms down here. I just hope it was no mistake to call Pepper's parents and her brother."

Loki by now had sat up completely in the bed and J.A.R.V.I.S. had increased the illumination.

"Why would it be a mistake? I suppose you invited them for the wedding? Or is it a tradition here on earth to celebrate without the family?" This time it were Stark's eyes that fixed on some point on the floor.

"They are not really close, you know. She has met them only twice in all the years that I know her, and I think they somehow cut her out of their lives. I just thought… well… at least she still does have some family, so I gave it a try. Her brother said yes almost immediately. The Mom was a bit harder to crack. I guess they will drag Dad along. I sent my jets over this morning to fetch them, they should arrive in the evening."

"Lady Pepper will be delighted", Loki offered while swinging his long legs out from under the blanket.

Tony chuckled. "Yeah, well, if she isn't, you'll have to share that couch with me", he said, getting a tiny laughter from the Trickster God.

"Anthony, about before…"

"Hey, don't worry. He doesn't have to become your best friend, okay? But he's a nice guy, and he almost had a nervous breakdown yesterday because he obviously pounded an injured and mentally abused you into my marble floor. Don't be too hard on him about it, ok?"

Loki once more couldn't help the astonished look that appeared on his face and was directed on the engineer. Tony, however, had already turned around, the look thus only reaching his back, and started opening some drawers to take out Loki's spare clothing.

"Oh man, we'll have to shop some more stuff for you", he muttered while the Demigod still wondered about the fact that obviously Dr. Banner was remorseful of having hurt him. Mortals really were most peculiar.

"Why are you helping me, Anthony?" he whispered, too quietly for the mortal to hear him. Oh, how he wanted to see this as some selfless gesture of a man who was helping him because it was the right thing to do. But concerning Loki, everything good that had ever been done to him, always came with a price tag. And most of the time, it cost him more than he could afford.

Tony had gathered what little belongings God of Mischief had accumulated in the dresser in the past two days and turned around, finding Loki still watching him.

"You wanna change? Or you wanna go on sleeping? Then I'll just show you the room. Oh, and is there any way to contact Thor? I know that he's a persona non grata around Peps in the moment, but she'll come around eventually, and we really have to discuss how to go on. Can we let him know that he should come back in two or three days or are we just waiting until he pops up here again?" Tony asked while unintentionally sending Loki's mind back to a time when he caught Sigyn trying to wash his clothes for the first time.

He was the second Prince of Asgard, for the Norns' sake, he came with servants to do whatever necessary in this household – and had to learn that around her parents this had been one of her chores, after all, she was not doing anything else to benefit them. He had never thought little of the people running these works in the palace, but as his wife she definitely was above washing his clothes.

Still, somewhere deep inside it had stirred something warm and cozy as she was standing there, clothes piled up in her arms, frowning at him as if his question what she was doing there was just plain stupid.

Some fingers snapped in front of his face made him blink confusedly, his mind returning to the present time, the inventor in front of him throwing him a worried look.

"You alright? Maybe we should have someone look you over, if the Hulk didn't do some bigger damage to your brain… stupid thing is that the only one with something close to a medical degree is Bruce, so…"

"I am fine, Anthony", Loki waved him off.

"Nope, you've been completely out of it for a moment", Tony replied, dark hazel eyes locking on the Demigod.

"You have just been asking me four questions in one sentence. Are you always this impatient to wait for answers?"

Tony just shrugged. "Well, when I'm not entirely sure that my conversation partner is having a seizure while he's looking straight through me… Ah, screw that, I've never been patient. So. Change? Or sleep? How can I contact Thor?"

"I will tell Heimdall to forward your message to him, if you allow me to leave your building. And I would like to get changed. I have slept enough for the time being."

Tony threw him a weird look. "Okay… just to make that clear: There's not anything for me to allow you. You decide what you wanna do. You are not my prisoner or hostage, you do not even have to feel obliged to stay if you don't want to, Loki."

God of Lies or not, Loki had not always been able to look behind the schemes, the plans others had made for him. He did not know by default if a person was lying or not, especially if he did not know this person well. Once more, however, the Man of Iron sounded more sincere than anyone he had ever met. His eyes locked with the other man.

"Where else would I go to, Anthony?"


Bruce had awkwardly sat at the counter in the kitchen, sipping some tea as Tony and Loki finally emerged from the guest room and ascended the stairs.

Tony came back down rather quickly, again, ordering J.A.R.V.I.S. to buy more clothes, underwear and shoes for the Demigod, instructing the AI to include their guest from the other realm into the actual process of decision making rather than simply ordering stuff just because Tony said Loki needs more clothes.

"He looks better", Bruce stated, watching the inventor pouring himself a cup of coffee, leaning back onto the furniture right next to the coffee machine, mirroring the same position he had acquired already in the morning at breakfast.

Tony just nodded. In the past two days he had figured out that while Loki was pale, his skin almost as porcelain, it had taken a more rosy hue after the conference with the world leaders was over. He did not look like an anemic ghost anymore.

"He looks completely different without his armor", the physicist stated then, having Tony hum once more. Yeah. Tall and lanky and not as beefy as he looked under his armor, even though he still was more broad-chested than either Tony or Bruce. His height made him look that lanky, and with his hair falling into his face all the time rather than being slicked back Tony couldn't help thinking once more about this boy, just having come of age, trying to take what the universe was throwing at him.

"Uhm… Tony?"

The engineer looked up from his cup, watching the physicist. "Sorry, Bruce. I'm not really talkative today. J.A.R.V.I.S. is hunting down the minister of Defense as we're speaking, I hope he can put a leash on Ross."

Closing his fingers around his mug of Chamomile tea, the other man just continued watching the engineer.

"Why won't you just let me go, Tony? It's way easier. I've dodged Ross multiple times, and he still owes me for not killing him when they set Blonsky after me."

At that Tony snorted. Yeah. As if the General would stick to owing the Hulk this favor. "Because it will only get worse, Bruce. Ross flipped me off when I approached him four years ago about the Avengers Initiative because…"

"Because the Hulk is all but reliable, Tony. Please, do not read too much into him helping during the invasion. I came to New York because I thought he might help. I was not entirely sure of the outcome, though. He might as well have smashed all of you, had the aliens not been more annoying."

The physicist squirmed under Tony's gaze that was telling him BULLSHIT!

"He saved me, Bruce. I would be a smear on the pavement of not for him. Let me be grateful, will you? There're not many people willing to save me from anything, most of them would laugh at me for falling on my face."

Bruce sighed at that, his eyes unconsciously drifting to the upper end of the stairwell as Tony took another gulp from his cup, finding Loki standing there, the Demigod's gaze directed at Tony with an intensity that astonished the other man. He was clad in some black jeans and a white t-shirt, the sling still holding his right arm immobilized.

"He likes you", Bruce offered then, taking his eyes off the Demigod who was now starting to descend the stairs. "I almost hulked out when Fury ordered us to go against you and Steve was briefly contemplating it. You make weird friends, Tony. Up to now the only person he liked was Betty." The physicist tried to say this lightly but could not help the sad tone in his voice as he said her name. Almost four years. He still remembered that time when he had been in Brazil, even there everybody had talked about Tony Stark having been kidnapped. Three months later, he had made his miraculous escape. And three months after that, the Arc reactor prototype had malfunctioned and Iron Man had stepped out of the shadows. Everybody was talking about the engineer, you could not even evade that in the favela he currently was residing in. Everything he knew about the other man stemmed from what was thrown at you by the tabloids and the impression he made in the past days. He received two very different views of the man when comparing what the press told you and what his gut was telling him.

Tony shrugged. "Well, can't be picky having as few friends as I have. I still owe you a trip to Candyland, right?"

At that, Bruce smiled. "You were really serious when offering me a job, huh? Are you collecting stray dogs, too?"

Tony laughed at that. "Nope, I'm rather a cat person, I guess. And it's Pepper who's collecting the strays. How do you think me and that one ended up here?" He was pointing his thumb at Loki over his shoulder, eliciting a small snort from the physicist, while Loki just sported a confused look.

"I will not work for you, Anthony", Loki pointed out, making the engineer laugh.

"Damn, and I thought I could put you up with all my legal department… my lawyers cost a fortune and still make mistakes. It's their fault that I had to endure all the BS when the government wanted to confiscate my suits and I had to proclaim it was some prosthetics. Thank God I'm rich, otherwise I'd also be constantly on the run. Not sure my heart could take that."

The moment he had said this he knew it had been a mistake. Loki's eyes were on him, while Bruce's wandered down to his chest briefly.

J.A.R.V.I.S.'s soft beeping tone saved him, announcing that Pepper had arrived and was on her way up to the Penthouse.

Bruce and Loki shared a quick look as the engineer's face lit up, both of them sure that he was as grateful for the distraction because he did not want to explain his slip of tongue from before as he was for actually seeing the woman he loved. He was sauntering over to the elevator, well knowing but still somehow forgetting that both men were still watching him as he grabbed a startled Pepper, kissing her mouth and greeting her with a "Hello, wifey-poo", before bowing down on a whim to kiss her belly, announcing a "Hey, Junior!"

He startled when Pepper smacked her briefcase on top of his head, and only now he realized that his significant other was fuming. "Ow, Peps, what…"

Raising his arm he blocked another smack with the briefcase. "You fired Manlow! This man has handled the press for the last eight years for you, and only because of him your fling with that waiter who was taking pictures of you in positions that would make the author of the Kama Sutra frown in confusion didn't make it to the tabloids! How…"

"What did he say?" Tony interrupted her, his face suddenly more than stern as he straightened his back again. If it caught Pepper off-guard, she didn't let it show, though.

"To ask you, because he told me he really doesn't have a clue! He's been working for Stark Industries for eight years and he's been doing a good job, and you don't even think it's necessary to inform me when…"

"He knew about the video, Pep." Tony interrupted her, ready to dodge another smack that never came as Pepper was watching him wide-eyed.

"The… the vid…? The… video…" she stuttered, hand with the briefcase still elevated. "The one that I found… when…?"

"The one the Ten Rings sent Stane when they figured out who exactly they had been paid to kill. The one you found on the SI server." Grabbing the briefcase Stark lowered her arm.

"B-But… why… when…?"

"The same day Obi got it. He saved it on the server and Manlow stumbled over it. And instead of helping me he decided to blackmail Stane." By now Tony had put the briefcase to the floor with Pepper standing in front of him, arms limply hanging down next to her body. She had turned incredibly pale in the past ten seconds.

"And you knew about it?" she then asked, her eyes tearing up as she realized that once more she had thought he would just pull one stupid stunt instead of asking him why he was doing what he was doing.

On the other hand, he also could have told her right away, without all the secretiveness.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. figured it out. I know I should have told you, but… I already dragged you into the thing with Stane and I didn't want you anywhere close to these fuckers."

"Wait. There's more than one who knew…? Miller." Oh. Now it finally made sense that his Chief of security had been fired two years ago because of stealing office equipment. More names made it to her mind, more people who had had to leave Stark Industries for reasons that Tony normally overlooked, like bagging paper clips.

"Alberts and Zane, too. I'm still working on Reese", Tony admitted. How the cook of the canteen had gotten wind of Stane wanting to off him was beyond him. Yet, none of those who knew tried to help. They all wanted to use it for their personal advantage.

"I hope the reason you fired Manlow is bulletproof. Otherwise I have to blow up yet another reactor", Pepper grouched by now.

"He was leaking stuff to the media, J.A.R.V.I.S. has all the proof we need. I can hardly go there and tell him that I know that he knows that my business partner hired some terrorists to get rid of me and then hoped I would die in that cave in Afghanistan when all I did was denying that most of the stuff ever happened… and we don't want anyone to start digging around to figure out what happened to Stane."

By now Pepper growled. "He deserved everything that happened to him."

By now the inventor caught her face in his hands, making her look at him. "Yes. He does. But if anyone ever investigates… if not for S.H.I.E.L.D…. Pep, I'd go to jail..."

"No."

"Pep…"

"No. I blew up the reactor. And I would do it again!" Her eyes were still focused on his, furiously blinking away tears. "Why didn't you… tell me? You promised to tell me everything, you promised to not leave me in the dark anymore. I have access to all the data from S.H.I.E.L.D. and yet you would not tell me that there are…" trailing off, she just looked at him, tears spilling over, silently running down her cheeks, staining them with her mascara, making her think that this was already the second time this day that she was crying. In the middle of the night she was mourning what had happened to Loki. And now she was once more reminded what other people were doing to the man she loved.

Stark was resting his forehead against hers, having her bow her head instinctively as she was taller than him, still dressed in her business outfit with the killer heels.

"Because I don't want you to blow up another reactor. You shouldn't have had to blow up the first one to begin with just because I chose to trust the man who more or less raised me." His thumbs were caressing away the tears, cursing himself for making her cry, once again, for him, over him?

"Can we please not talk about him… I think I need to sit down", Pepper announced, feeling slightly dizzy. Tony's arms instantly went around her as he guided her to the couch.

"Are you okay? J.A.R.V.I.S.? Is everything alright?" the inventor asked his AI, his gaze briefly stopping at the two men in his kitchen that were sending them wide-eyed looks. Shit. He more or less forgot that both of them where there.

It took a few seconds until the AI answered: "I cannot detect anything out of the ordinary, Sir. I suppose it is a reaction to the stress and the reminiscence of the events with the late Mr. Stane."

Loki and Bruce had made their way to the couch by the time Tony and Pepper got there, the Demigod stopping behind it, throwing Lady Pepper a worried glance. The physicist made his way around it, removing her shoes as he moved her legs up on the couch while Tony sat down right next to her, Pepper leaning onto him.

Grabbing her wrist, Bruce checked her pulse, asking casually: "How far along are you?"


Pepper looked at Tony questioningly as Bruce was taking her pulse. They had agreed on telling Loki, not on spreading the news to everybody in the tower. Tony just frowned, his gaze wandering from Pepper to Bruce and back.

"You just greeted her by kissing her stomach and saying hey, Junior, Tony. It doesn't need a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on. So, how far along, and have you been dizzy before?" Bruce said in a no-nonsense tone.

"Uhm… no, I have not, and I don't think it's the baby, yet… It's only been ten days, you know… J.A.R.V.I.S., is our baby boy alright?" Her hand that was not in Bruce's grip had found Tony's as she addressed the voice in the ceiling.

Bruce threw both of them a look. Tony just shrugged. "We know the day when I scored because both of us are so busy that it's the only possibility for me to knock her up. J, please say something."

"I am still scanning, Sir. It appears that ecto-, endo- and mesoderm are forming normally."

"Your AI has scanners that can distinguish… You already know that it's gonna be a boy, huh? What resolution do your scanners have?" The physicist appeared impressed, his eyes locking on the engineer.

Tony was scratching his head, his gaze flickering from Bruce, to Pepper, and then to Loki whose free hand was resting on the back of the couch.

"Well… We're not at a base pair resolution, yet, but J.A.R.V.I.S. and I are working on it. Chromosomes are easy, and the Y is not that hard to make out."

"You can tell the gender of the baby this early? We did not know we were having twins until Narvi made his appearance." Loki had asked this the same second as Bruce announced a "You have medical scanners that can go beyond nuclear resolution and we are still struggling with X-ray machines in the rest of the world?!"

Before Tony or Pepper could answer, the Demigod and the physicist looked at each other, asking a "You have kids?" and "What is an X-ray machine?" simultaneously.

Running a hand over his face, Tony chuckled slightly. "Bruce, I have learned the hard way that the world is not ready yet for most of the things I invent. Most of the time, I'm ahead of everything, and when people are not afraid, they are confused or accusing me of using tricks. When they found out about my armor and couldn't rebuild it they figured that I was to give them the blueprints because I should not be the only one who was allowed to have it. My scanners are still too much Star Trek. And yes, Loki, my scanners can tell the gender already now. I don't know how it's on Asgard, but here us humans have 22 pairs of regular chromosomes, and one pair that, among other things determines the sex, that's either XX for girls or XY for boys. Everybody else has to wait until the kid grows the right parts and is correctly positioned during an ultrasound to tell."

"And I did not even have to pee on a stick to figure out that I was pregnant", Pepper piped up, having her soon-to-be husband smile at her. One quick side glance told him that he had lost the God of Mischief somewhere in his explanation of chromosomes and ultrasounds.

Tony's hand found her cheek again. "I'm sorry for not telling you, and for not being there at the meeting when it was announced. I didn't think I would have to run interference for Bruce here. Do the guys in R&D even know that I'm still their boss?"

Removing her hand from Bruce's soft grip, Pepper dared to sit up under three scrutinizing glances, suddenly feeling the urge to tell the men that she was not terminally ill, just… oh, how cliché was that?

"You send them 20 new ideas per weeks and 5 new blueprints per month. Those guys love you." And actually, Tony was one of the few Department leaders that she did get very few complaints about. Yes, he was there rarely, and also did not always answer his emails right away. On the other hand, this made the guys think on their own, and if it really mattered, Tony was there.

That got her a really astonished look from her significant other.

"Come on, you made R&D like Candyland; it's a wonder they leave the building every now and then", Pepper smiled, once more leaning in to rest her forehead against his.

"Are there any more people who know of the video and Stane?" she then asked.

Tony sighed deeply. "Not that I know of. J.A.R.V.I.S. found irregularities in his bank account and that Stane rerouted money. The rest was easy." He did not mention how much it hurt, to figure out that people he had to trust with his life, more or less, would stab him in the back for money. He always thought that he was treating his employees well, Stark Industries offered conditions you rarely found, and it had been already like this when he was still producing weapons. Finding out about his chief of security, or his PR manager definitely had not done anything to deal with his trust issues.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., you will let also me know if you find any more, do you hear me?" her eyes flickered to the ceiling, like everybody who was addressing the AI. Closing her eyes again, she sighed. "You don't have to do everything alone, Tony."

Before Tony could answer, Bruce was clearing his throat. "Uhm… I hate interrupting your Days of our lives impersonation, but could anyone show me my room before Tony starts crying and declares his undying love?"

That made both the billionaire and his CEO separate and throw an astonished glance at the other man. The engineer burst into a loud laughter when he saw Loki's confused look. This was how you interrupted their shows of affection and weird conversations? You just… interrupted them?

"You could learn a thing or two from Brucie, here, huh, Lokes?"

The Demigod was scratching his head with his free hand. "I suppose", he answered then, making the three other people in the room laugh, and for the first time in a long time it did not feel as if anyone was laughing at him, so he smiled.

Taking another deep breath, Pepper sat up entirely now, her hand placed on Tony's thigh.

"Okay, how about you take the boys to Candyland, show them around a bit. I'll get rid of my business gear and then join you to tell the bots about their little brother, hmm? Oh, and when did you want to tell me that you invited my parents for our wedding?"

She was still smiling at him, and it was not a forced smile, he had learned to distinguish these from the real ones in the past two years they had spent together. He just tilted his head.

"The pilot called Happy, and you know Happy cannot keep any secret from me."

"You're not mad, right?"

"No. If my Dad misbehaves, though, you'll share the couch with him."

Loki huffed. "It will be very crowded on that couch then, I guess…"

This time it was only Tony that laughed, winking at Loki about their very own insider joke, while Bruce and Pepper sent them confused looks.

"Oh, it definitely won't be dull in here, I guess", Bruce stated, getting up from the couch.

"So. Candyland?"

The physicist just threw him a glance. "Positions that would have the author of the Kama Sutra frown in confusion?" was all he wanted to know. All Tony did, was shrug.

"What can I say? The guy was gorgeous, and I was way more flexible back then."